Quenta Nârwenion

From the life of Nârwen. Catholic. Secular Oratorian. Rat Fan. And oh, yes, Tolkien Nut.

Saturday, May 08, 2004

On May 8, 1851Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O., preached a sermon, of which the following notes survive:
On Mary as Our Mother"1. INTROD.-Our Lord from the cross said, 'Behold thy mother.' These words, spoken to St. John, have been considered by the Church to apply to us all.

2. When our Lord went up on high, He supplied us with all those relations in a spiritual way which we have in a natural way. He is all of them-our physician, our teacher, our ruler or pastor, our father and our mother. Explain how our mother-as bearing us in pain. 'Shall a mother forget her sucking child?' and in nourishing us with the milk of the Holy Eucharist.

3. And as St. Peter the one pastor, as St. John, etc., and the prophets and doctors [as teachers], as priests His physicians, so He has left His own mother to be our mother.

4. 'Behold thy mother,' etc. Month of Mary.

5. Now consider what is meant by this-a mother's special gift-fostering care, tenderness, compassion, unfailing love, so that whenever we would express what is home, and a refuge, and a retreat, and a school of love, we call it our mother. Our country is our mother: our schools, colleges, universities, etc., etc. Hence the Church.

6. This is what Mary fulfils to all who seek her care, and in a far higher degree than any mother can do; for,

7. First, many lose their mothers, or have unkind mothers, etc. Everything of earth fades.

8. Second, a human mother's standard of things may be wrong: it may lead from God, hence human affections keep so many from the Church.

9. Everything human has a chance of fostering idolatry. What is always present hides the unseen.

10. Our heavenly mother cannot fail and cannot err, cannot obscure her Son and Lord, but reminds of Him.

11. Let us try to get this filial feeling, though we can only learn it by degrees, and cannot force ourselves into it. "

Friday, May 07, 2004

Mary is the "Rosa Mystica," the Mystical Rose by Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O.

"How did Mary become the Rosa Mystica, the choice, delicate, perfect flower of God's spiritual creation? It was by being born, nurtured and sheltered in the mystical garden or Paradise of God. Scripture makes use of the figure of a garden, when it would speak of heaven and its blessed inhabitants. A garden is a spot of ground set apart for trees and plants, all good, all various, for things that are sweet to the taste or fragrant in scent, or beautiful to look upon, or useful for nourishment; and accordingly in its spiritual sense it means the home of blessed spirits and holy souls dwelling there together, souls with both the flowers and the fruits upon them, which by the careful husbandry of God they have come to bear, flowers and fruits of grace, flowers more beautiful and more fragrant than those of any garden, fruits more delicious and exquisite than can be matured by earthly husbandman.

All that God has made speaks of its Maker; the mountains speak of His eternity; the sun of His immensity, and the winds of His Almightiness. In like manner flowers and fruits speak of His sanctity, His love, and His providence; and such as are flowers and fruits, such must be the place where they are found. That is to say, since they are found in a garden, therefore a garden has also excellences which speak of God, because it is their home. For instance, it would be out of place if we found beautiful flowers on the mountain-crag, or rich fruit in the sandy desert. As then by flowers and fruits are meant, in a mystical sense, the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, so by a garden is meant mystically a place of spiritual repose, stillness, peace, refreshment, and delight.

Thus our first parents were placed in 'a garden of pleasure'shaded by trees, 'fair to behold and pleasant to eat of,' with the Tree of Life in the midst, and a river to water the ground. Thus our Lord, speaking from the cross to the penitent robber, calls the blessed place, the heaven to which He was taking him, 'paradise,' or a garden of pleasure. Therefore St. John, in the Apocalypse, speaks of heaven, the palace of God, as a garden or paradise, in which was the Tree of Life giving forth its fruits every month.

Such was the garden in which the Mystical Rose, the Immaculate Mary, was sheltered and nursed to be the Mother of the All Holy God, from her birth to her espousals to St. Joseph, a term of thirteen years. For three years of it she was in the arms of her holy mother, St. Anne, and then for ten years she lived in the temple of God. In those blessed gardens, as they may be called, she lived by herself, continually visited by the dew of God's grace, and growing up a more and more heavenly flower, till at the end of that period she was meet for the inhabitation in her of the Most Holy. This was the outcome of the Immaculate Conception. Excepting her, the fairest rose in the paradise of God has had upon it blight, and has had the risk of canker-worm and locust. All but Mary; she from the first was perfect in her sweetness and her beautifulness, and at length when the angel Gabriel had to come to her, he found her 'full of grace,'which had, from her good use of it, accumulated in her from the first moment of her being. "

Thursday, May 06, 2004

From Discourses to Mixed Congregationsby Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O.

" If the Deipara is to witness of Emmanuel, she must be necessarily more than the Deipara. For consider; a defence must be strong in order to be a defence; a tower must be, like that Tower of David, 'built with bulwarks'; 'a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armour of valiant men'. It would not have sufficed, in order to bring out and impress on us the idea that God is man, had His Mother been an ordinary person. A mother without a home in the Church, without dignity, without gifts, would have been, as far as the defence of the Incarnation goes, no mother at all. She would not have remained in the memory, or the imagination of men. If she is to witness and remind the world that God became man, she must be on a high and eminent station for the purpose. She must be made to fill the mind, in order to suggest the lesson. When she once attracts our attention, then, and not till then, she begins to preach Jesus. 'Why should she have such prerogatives,' we ask, 'unless He be God? and what must He be by nature, when she is so high by grace?' This is why she has other prerogatives besides, namely, the gifts of personal purity and intercessory power, distinct from her maternity; she is personally endowed that she may perform her office well; she is exalted in herself that she may minister to Christ."

I received an urgent e-mail from Kat Lively....and am herewith posting it on the blog......
"Urgent! ******* Urgent! ******* Urgent!

Stop the Morning-After Pill! Over-the-Counter approval to be decided by the
FDA May 21.

No age limits, no medical supervision, no parental involvement!

Spread this far and wide! Time is of the essense! Call the White House,
contact your Senators and Congressmen!

For instructions on how to email the FDA directly with an email link go to
href="http://www.pop.org/main.cfm?id=215&r1=2.00&r2=2.00&r3=0.05&r4=0.00&lev
el=3&eid=553">this page of the PRI Website. More info below.From the Population Research Institute
Weekly Briefing:

Dear Colleague:

There is still time for pro-lifers to call the White House
(202-456-1414) and urge the President to assure the American people that
the mega dose "morning after pill" will not be sold "over the counter."

Also contact your U.S. Senator or Representative to urge leadership from
Congress that will protect women and babies from this new chemical assault
weapon.

Toll free: 1-800-648-3516 or 1-877-762-8762.

The abortion establishment is going all out to urge their followers to
lobby in favor of making this chemical killer available over the counter.
Their mailings include the lie that so-called "emergency contraception"
does not cause abortion and does not work if a women is already pregnant.
Over the counter approval of the "morning after pill" will be a public
health disaster.

Steven W. Mosher
President

PRI Weekly Briefing
12 May 2004
Vol. 6 / No. 17

Stop the Morning-After Pill!Press reports suggest that the FDA is teetering on the brink of approving
the so-called morning-after pill. As past PRI Weekly Briefings have made
clear, there are terrible risks in making this powerful drug available
over-the-counter with no age restrictions or parental involvement.

€ The progestin-only hormonal contraceptive in Norplant is the same active
ingredient as Plan B. Norplant is no longer available for use in the
United States because it is so dangerous. Known risks include significant
weight gain, ovarian cyst enlargement, gallbladder disease, high blood
pressure and respiratory disorders.

€ Among teenagers, some of these common side effects could result in
increased rates of bulimia, anorexia, or clinical depression. Also, an
increased risk of ectopic pregnancy has been associated with use of Plan
B-type emergency contraception.

€ Since the drug precludes parental involvement, it is likely that teenage
girls who buy Plan B at the drugstore then experience abdominal pain may not
confide in parents so that a physician could diagnose if a
life-threatening ectopic pregnancy had occurred. Over-the-counter approval
would mean that young people would be free to purchase and use (abuse) this
powerful hormone without supervision or follow up.

€ The drug was approved for over-the-counter use on January 1 in
Australia. Already there are reports in the Australian press of
13-year-old girls buying the pill several times a week to the alarm of
local pharmacists who are not able to give proper counseling to these
girls on the many risks involved. The Australian Medical Association is
already questioning the wisdom of making this risky drug so easily
available without restriction. (The West Australian, 4/4/04)

€ If over-the-counter availability of this drug is approved, we may also
expect that rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among teens will
skyrocket. Adolescents age 15-19 currently represent 46% of all cases of
Chlamydia in the U.S. 1 in 4 sexually active teenagers contract an STD at
some point. In Washington State and in Sweden, where emergency contraception
has been made widely available, rates of STD infection are skyrocketing.

€ We can also expect an increase in the rates of sexual violence committed
against adolescent girls. The easy availability of this drug
over-the-counter will make it more difficult for teenage girls to resist
pressure to have sex, and will trivialize the act of rape.

€ Over-the-counter availability of the morning after pill will lead to an
increase in the pregnancy rate among teenagers. Studies have shown that
increased rates of pregnancy occur among teens with increased use of
"emergency contraception." Another showed that teenagers whose pregnancies
ended in induced abortion were more likely to have used the drug before
conception, and that teens who use the drug were more willing to engage in
"risk-taking" behavior.

Please take time to call the White House or, better yet, jot a note to
your Senator or Congressman regarding the morning after pill. If it goes
over-the-counter as scheduled on May 21, then anything goes. Lives will be
compromised and families further undermined. A sample letter follows:

April 29, 2004

Dear Senator ____________ (or Congressman _____________):

I understand the FDA is set to decide whether or not the
morning-after-pill (MAP) will go over-the-counter on 21 May 2004. I
believe that pressure from you and your colleagues could stop this
dangerous drug from being made available to very young girls without
medical supervision or parental knowledge. Would you please advise the
FDA to cease and desist? If MAP is approved, then it won’t be long before
the FDA makes the birth control pill available over-the-counter. This will
further compromise the sanctity of life and the integrity of the
family.

From the Akathist Hymn"Hail, O Space of the Spaceless God!
Hail, O Gate of the Sublime Mystery!
Hail, O Message unsure to men without faith!
Hail, O Glory most certain to those who believe!
Hail, O Sacred Chariot of the One above the Cherubim!
Hail, Perfect Dwelling of the One above the Seraphim!
Hail, O you who reconciled opposites!
Hail, O you who combined maidenhood and motherhood!
Hail, O you through whom transgression was erased;
Hail, O you through whom Paradise was opened!
Hail, O Key to the Kingdom of Christ!
Hail, O Hope for the Ages of Bliss!
Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure! "

On May 5, 1872Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O., preached a sermon, of which the following notes survive:

Holy Scripture

"1. We are so ignorant, and the world so confused, that there is a natural desire to know the future (trust in superstitions, fortune-tellers, etc., etc.). A future must come, and we know nothing about it, and desire to know it.

2. Fortune-tellers about ourselves and public affairs-almanacs; and so Catholics have their prophets.

3. All those reports such as Catholics are apt to be beguiled with, have two tokens of error. They do not appeal to or carry on Scripture prophecy; next, they are different from Scripture prophecy, as I said last week.

4. Now, though there was no direct comfort and instruction to be gained from Scripture prophecy, it would be a duty to keep it in view, because it is in Scripture-because it is the inspired word of God.

5. And this great evil arises from neglecting it, because Protestants take it up and interpret it wrongly; they interpret it against us-our Scripture becomes a weapon in their hands because we have relinquished it to them.

6. But great edification does come from reading Scripture prophecy; and a blessing is promised on those who read. Very little is told us about the future; nothing to gratify our curiosity, but with it real edification.

7. The Apocalypse brings before us the conflict between Christ and the world.

8. And so of other Scriptures-the Gospel the best spiritual book-St. Paul's epistles, the Psalms.

9. Pius VI.'s declaration. This why so many French and Italians have become infidels.

HMS Bloghas a link to a review of a book on rats. The review doesn't mention the contributions to the good of mankind made by laboratory rats, nor the pleasure rat owners take in their critters. I have sent an e-mail to the source, asking whether this oversight is attributable to the reviewer or the author of the book.

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

On May 4, 1843 Venerable John Henry Newman wrote to a friend who was upset over his plan to leave the Anglican ministry.
"At present I fear, as far as I can analyze my own convictions, I consider the Roman Catholic Communion to be the Church of the Apostles, and that what grace is among us (which, through God's mercy, is not little) is extraordinary, and from the overflowings of His dispensation. I am very far more sure that England is in schism, than that the Roman additions to the Primitive Creed may not be developments, arising out of a keen and vivid realizing of the Divine Depositum of Faith.

You will now understand what gives edge to the Bishops' Charges, without any undue sensitiveness on my part. They distress me in two ways:-first, as being in some sense protests and witnesses to my conscience against my own unfaithfulness to the English Church, and next, as being samples of her teaching, and tokens how very far she is from even aspiring to Catholicity.

Of course my being unfaithful to a trust is my great subject of dread,-as it has long been, as you know...."

On May 4, 1851, the Venerable, now both a Catholic and an Oratorian, preached a sermon, of which the following notes survive:

On the Good Shepherd and Lost Sheep"1. INTROD.-God is from eternity and ever blessed in Himself, and needs nothing.

2. On His, being such, taking part in things of time.

3. An office of ministration-one towards things physical; a further towards things moral, i.e. which have free will.

4. A further still towards man fallen-on his waywardness, arising from concupiscence and ignorance-and even the just [not exempt]-of which ignorance remains more fully in all. Ignorance is the best estate. This is portrayed in sheep. Other animals are fearful, etc., and represent sinners, but the innocent sheep, ignorant and helpless, is the fit type of the just. What a picture this gives us! We are tempted to laugh at sheep, who will not go the right way, start at every noise, do not know the meaning of anything, and are obliged to be forced by terror, as by the dog; yet it is our best image. Our Lord, the Good Shepherd, is obliged to frighten us, etc., etc. Yet so patient.

5. O how patient towards us! But more than patient-the lost sheep, and His laying down His life for it-the wolf-nay, and that a one, though one.

6. What is meant by one? Because any one must consider Himself the one. Every one is worst to himself: he alone knows himself.

7. On St. Augustine, this day St. Monica's day.

8. Does the Church lament over you, O one sinner! Here we are in the happy time of the year-Christ risen and the month of May come-yet you have not been to your duties, or have not got absolution, or have fallen again into sin. Mater Ecclesia deplores you, our blessed Lord deplores you, etc. "

After a bit more thought...I realized that I have one good thing to say about our local schismatical heresiarch - at least he had the honesty to leave.
UPDATE: Jeff Miller was kind enough to link to this story and add his own wonderful commentary.

I received an e-mail...from a group doing important work. (It doesn't hurt that they have a great name as well !)
Here's most of the text of the e-mail:
" NATIONAL STUDY REVEALS PRO-ABORTION, RELATED ACTIVITY AT CATHOLIC COLLEGES SINCE 1999

- 56-Page Report Documents Scandals in Catholic Higher Education -

MANASSAS, VA (April 28, 2004) – Cardinal Newman Society has issued a shocking new report on scandals at U.S. Catholic colleges and universities that is certain to reignite concerns about the colleges’ religious character.

The 56-page report, 'The Culture of Death on Catholic Campuses: A Five-Year Review,' documents inroads made by advocates of abortion, contraception, premarital sexual activity, and physician-assisted suicide onto Catholic college campuses since 1999. It is the most extensive evidence of problems in Catholic higher education ever compiled in a single source—and yet it only scratches the surface, relying primarily on media reports and college websites.

' "Pro-choice" is no choice for a Catholic institution, which by its Catholic mission must be courageously pro-life,' said Erin Butcher, lead researcher and co-author of the report. 'Cardinal Newman Society has responded to scandal after scandal on Catholic campuses, but many Catholics still fail to appreciate the scope of the problem.'

The report, which can be downloaded free of charge at www.cardinalnewmansociety.org beginning April 28, identifies the problems and suggests solutions to ensure that Catholic colleges uphold their Catholic, pro-life mission. Highlights include:

* Pro-abortion presidential candidates at Catholic colleges. In January, St. Anselm College (N.H.) hosted seven pro-abortion candidates for their final debate before New Hampshire’s Democratic primary. Other campaign appearances have included John Kerry at Georgetown in January 2003, Dennis Kucinich at Sacred Heart University last June, Howard Dean at St. Anselm last September and at Georgetown last October, Dick Gephardt’s daughter at Boston College last November, Gephardt and Kerry at Clarke College (Iowa) in January, Wesley Clark at Rivier College (N.H.) in January, and Kerry at Georgetown again in April.

* Nearly 200 instances of campus speakers and honorees who have been public advocates of abortion or otherwise contributors to the 'Culture of Death'. These include at least 17 visits and lectures by President Bill Clinton at Georgetown University, researchers engaged in human cloning and embryonic cell research at Assumption College and the College of the Holy Cross, NARAL Pro-Choice America president Kate Michelman at Boston College law school, radical feminist Gloria Steinem at Fairfield University, pornographer Larry Flynt at Georgetown University, and National Organization for Women (NOW) president Kim Gandy at Loyola University of New Orleans.

* 'Emergency contraception,' an abortifacient, provided to students by the College of Santa Fe and Rockhurst University.

* College officials and faculty with ties to pro-abortion and pro-euthanasia organizations, including a Boston College law professor on the board of directors of the Death With Dignity National Center; a Georgetown University philosophy professor on the board of directors of the Compassion in Dying Federation, and two Georgetown University women’s studies professors who are also employees of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

* Pro-abortion politicians serving as college officials and faculty, including Carol Moseley Braun teaching management at DePaul University, Geraldine Ferraro on the Fordham University law school Board of Visitors and teaching public policy at Georgetown University, and Leon Panetta teaching political science and on the Board of Trustees and law school Board of Visitors at Santa Clara University.

* Pro-abortion student clubs including the Reproductive Choice Coalition at Boston College law school, Hoyas for Choice at Georgetown University, Georgetown Students for Choice at Georgetown law school, and a NOW chapter at St. Ambrose University.

* Internships and service opportunities offered by Catholic colleges, including service as a Planned Parenthood 'clinic escort' promoted by Nazareth College’s campus ministry and internships with Planned Parenthood offered by Villanova University.

* Website referrals to pro-abortion organizations as medical or academic resources including Georgetown University links to local abortion clinics, LaSalle University links to NOW and the Feminist Majority Foundation, Loyola University of Chicago links to Planned Parenthood and the Feminist Majority Foundation, Loyola University of New Orleans links to NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood, and Seton Hall University links to the Feminist Majority Foundation and NOW.

* Student newspapers promoting sex and contraception, including sex advice columns titled 'Sex and the University' in The Heights at Boston College and 'Sex on the Hilltop' in The Hoya at Georgetown University. "

Monday, May 03, 2004

From Parochial and Plain Sermonsby Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O.
"Make use, then, of this Holy Easter Season, which lasts forty to fifty days, to become more like Him who died for you, and who now liveth for evermore. He promises us, 'Because I live, ye shall live also.' He, by dying on the Cross, opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. He first died, and then He opened heaven. We, therefore, first commemorate His death, and then, for some weeks in succession, we commemorate and show forth the joys of heaven. They who do not rejoice in the weeks after Easter, would not rejoice in heaven itself. These weeks are a sort of beginning of heaven. Pray God to enable you to rejoice; to enable you to keep the Feast duly. Pray God to make you better Christians. This world is a dream,-you will get no good from it. Perhaps you find this difficult to believe; but be sure so it is. Depend upon it, at the last, you will confess it. Young people expect good from the world, and people of middle age devote themselves to it, and even old people do not like to give it up. But the world is your enemy, and the flesh is your enemy. Come to God, and beg of Him grace to devote yourselves to Him. Beg of Him the will to follow Him; beg of Him the power to obey Him. O how comfortable, pleasant, sweet, soothing, and satisfying is it to lead a holy life,-the life of Angels! It is difficult at first; but with God's grace, all things are possible. "
This is from a sermon he preached on May 3, 1840. (He was still Anglican at that point. )

Please pray ......for these very misguided folks in my diocese.The article gets some things wrong, of course, such as the Catholic view on the possibility of salvation for those outside the Church. (I'm just hoping most of them are currently invinicibly ignorant- the few who are cited sound like it.) What really gets me is this quote from "Fr." Hausen.
"I feel that the greatest theology today will come from your experience of yourself . . . not from above or from someone imposing stuff on us..."
If that were true, we'd all be in serious trouble, Fr. Narcissus. Gee, you'd think that with a past like his he'd at least be aware of original sin.....

If it were not Sunday...today would be the feast of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. As I noted last year, he was one of Venerable Newman's favorite saints, and he wrote about him and referred to him often.
" 'Did St. Athanasius, or St. Ambrose, come suddenly to life, it cannot be doubted,' I said ironically, 'what communion they would mistake for their own. All surely will agree that these Fathers, with whatever differences of opinion, whatever protests, if we will, would find themselves more at home with such men as St. Bernard, or St. Ignatius Loyola, or with the lonely priest in his lodgings, or the holy sisterhood of Charity, or the unlettered crowd before the altar, than with the rulers or members of any other religious community. And may we not add, that were the two Saints, who once sojourned in exile or on embassage at Treves, to come more northward still, and to travel until they reached another fair city, seated among groves, green meadows, and calm streams, the holy brothers would turn from many a high aisle and solemn cloister which they found there, and ask the way to some small chapel, where mass was said, in the populous alley or the forlorn suburb? And, on the other hand, can any one who has but heard his name, and cursorily read his history, doubt for one instant, how the people of England, in turn, "we, our princes, our priests, and our prophets," Lords and Commons, Universities, Ecclesiastical Courts, marts of commerce, great towns, country parishes, would deal with Athanasius,-Athanasius, who spent his long years in fighting against kings for a theological term? ' "- Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O. An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine